Boy/Girl Shared Room {Inspiration Board}

When hunting for a home we originally wanted 4 bedrooms PLUS a bonus room.  As I looked at home prices in the location we wanted (a very desireable location) I quickly was forced to change my "priorities".  4 beds + a bonus was waaaaaayyyyyyy way way WAY out of our price range.  It wasn't going to happen.

Enter our dream Colonial.

This home is 2600 sq ft.  3 beds + bonus.  I like to use my bonus rooms as a bonus space (AKA: lock the kids in the bonus room and forget about them destroying things, so I can get some peace and quiet for 5 minutes), so that meant my 4 kids would be sharing.  My sweet daughter can kiss her pink girly private room GOODBYE!  She is now sharing with #4.

Enter my Boy/Girl Room.

As I write this we are building the Built in Bunks.  They are all over Pinterest, you can't miss 'em.

Built in bunks:

1. Make the room feel bigger
2. Create a private space for my daughter so she can still have her alone time before bed amidst the boys screaming and running around naked after baths.
3. Are just awesome looking!

I will post our progress.  But just to warn you... it will be slower than slow.  We have 4 kids now.  I teach ballet, run my own photography business, and I am still unpacking boxes! I am insane.  Why am I even doing this blog?!

 See you around soon (don't hold your breath...)

Mikael

I'm Back & Ready to Rock & Renovate!!!

Let me blow the dust off and shine the windows.  This poor ole blog has seriously been neglected.  If you don't remember, or you are new, this was the former home of "Starter Home to Dream Home".  Now it is:

THE DIZZY HOUSE.

I needed a fresh new start after my long 3+ year hiatus (story below).  My style has evolved and changed, as it should.  I think we all moved on from band aid colored walls and fake ivy on our kitchen cabinets!

When thinking of what to rename my site I wanted something with personality, depth, craziness and a little silly. Cause that's what my family is.  We are controlled chaos (ok, NOT controlled. just chaos).  As I was brainstorming, I quickly thought of the conversation I had with my 8 year old daughter a couple nights ago.  She was beaming with joy as she was telling me about her new school.  After a hard summer of moving twice, and another move ahead, she had finally felt settled.  She found friends and I had not seen her this happy in months.  It was quite the change from her moping around self just weeks before.  She mentioned her school friends had formed a club and met at recess. I asked her what she called the club.
"The Dizzy Girl Club"
So cute.  I couldn't get that out of my head. Was it the name I liked so much or just all that happiness in my daughter's face when she said it?  Who cares.  I felt the same way.  After 3 years of moving and feeling a little lost and a lot lost at times we were finally going to be settled.  Our family had a home of our own.

The Dizzy House was born.

Now what happened to me from the the last post in 2011 up until now? 

Twins turned two. I went insane. Something had to go.
My photography business exploded.  House blog fell off my "want to do" list to "I can't do right now" list.
Got prego with #4. Yes, it was planned.
Morning sickess was all day and all night sickness.
Husband got transferred to Pullman Washington (you don't even want to know...) so we moved.
Rented our "starter home" out and moved into a rental, ourselves, for the next 2 1/2 yrs.
Tears were shed at the thought of renters using my new kitchen.
More tears were shed at the site of the horrendous rental I was forced to live in (we won't go there, long story..).
Still throwing up into the 3rd trimester
Lived in a town of 300 people for 2 1/2 yrs (Colton Washington. I know. I had never heard of it either.)
I went into hiding.
Dropped all my careers.
Laid in bed all day sick with pregnancy.
Gained 80 lbs with my pregnancy.
I learned to sew curtains and pillows (now that alone was worth it!).
Had the Baby! YAY, not sick anymore!
Lost the 80 lbs I gained
Moved again from one rental to another. Just shy of being homeless.
And... drum roll.... after 2 1/2 years in isolation, living where no Target is within 100 miles, we got the news we were being transferred back to PORTLAND!
Tears of joy were shed. 

The story continues...

Kicked my renters out of our Starter home to get it ready to sell.
Cried when I saw what renters did to my home. 
Revamped my home in 2 weeks, to get it staged and ready to sell (that's a blog post in itself!).
Listed my home on our own. Sold it in 35 days. Made a good profit.
The day we were moving into our rental, literally carting our stuff into the rental house, we got wind of a home that just listed. Ran over to see it.  Loved it.  Made an offer that day!
We got the home!

Here she is:

This adorable, perfectly charming colonial became mine on October 7th, 2014.  This home is the light at the end of the 3 year tunnel.  It is a big gift that I have been wishing for and I feel so lucky.

This colonial is like a girl that is cute, but could be a real smokin hottie, she just needs my touch!  She has great bones, and SOOOO much potential I can hardly contain myself!  Lucky for me, I convinced my husband of all her glory and potential and he was on board from the get go. 

I am going to turn her from a bad 90s hairday into a classy, traditional/transitional, gorgeous, comfortable colonial home.  I will be painting every. single. surface.  Ripping out almost every. single. thing.  And because we only pay cash for our renovations, it will all be DIY! 

I'm back and we got a lot of updates to do! Can't wait to share!!

First project on the list:
Built in Bunk Beds: Boy/Girl neutral classic shared room.

My Redecorating Reality

Lets face it, times are tight. Are our homes really where we should be spending the money that we could be saving? I don't think right now is the best time for that (beyond what we have already done).
My heart aches to remodel our master bathroom, I wish upon a star that I could get that ottoman and matching pillows for my family room, and maybe one day I can redecorate the kids rooms :) I also have REALLY badly wanted a new dresser for our bedroom, maybe add some chair rail, amazing photos and a bookcase. I have to add that I would LOVE to get a new, stylish chair to replace my nerdy office one I am sitting on right now (that someone gave us 4 years ago). Not to mention reflooring the whole downstairs with Engineered hardwood..... in my dreams....

The reality is, we need to be saving.

My husband is still driving the '87 Toyota pick-up he drove to High School. I think it's his time for a nice little "renovation". It is his turn to buy his "dream truck" (the dream truck in our budget). My dresser can wait, my ottoman with matching pillows and my master bathroom will definitely have to wait until the housing market picks up again and I can see a reason to spruce things up with the hope of a nice return.

My husband gave me my dream kitchen so I will give him his dream truck.

So, for now, my posts will be far and few between. But that is OK. Because when I do get a chance to redecorate something it will be so worth the wait :)

Summer Review

Summer is here (I can't tell by the dreary weather in the NW) and berry picking season is on!  I make strawberry jam every year with my dad.  Well, this year will be a whole lot better because CSN, and their sister sites that have anything from decor, vanity, and office, has given me the opportunity to review their darling Rachel Ray cookware from cookware.com (you all know how I am obsessed with Rachel Ray cookware).

I will be cookin my jam in this big pot this year, I can't wait!!! Not to mention the orange will just POP in my newly renovated kitchen.  Wanna come over and can with me?

Kitchen Final Reveal!!! Picture Perfect

It has been a hard and long 2 months! Wow, I can't believe it took us 2 months to get this thing finished. It is FINALLY DONE!!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited to show all of you I had to post this before my big date tonight :)

BEFORE

AFTER

I can't tell you how pleased I am with the final result. Our projects ALWAYS come out BETTER than we had planned.

Remember how I originally had picked, and purchased, Tumbled Travertine as my backsplash? Well, my gut told me it was wrong, so I returned it and traded it for Porcelain, dark and contemporary tiles. LOVE IT!!! That was the best choice I made. And I am SOOOO lucky that Oregon Tile & Marble made the exchange, THANK YOU!

The Granite goes perfectly with our whole contemporary feel. Click HERE for my post on our DIY Granite Mini Slabs

My $10 Valances above my corner sink fit right in.

I am in love with my elegant Faucet that reminds me of Swan Lake. I can't believe I actually wanted to return it. I have fallen in love with it more everyday. I got it at Lowes for $200!!

I had so much fun Accesorizing my new kitchen:

Got 'em at Target

No, this knife set isn't new. I just spray painted the wood Oil Rubbed Bronze. A quick fix for it to look sleek and new.

See the "old" knife set to the right?

I wanted to add some accessories on the top of my cabinets. Just because I can't accesorize within 2 year old reach I had fun with this one! I still feel like I need to tweek it a little bit but I have time for that.

I added this plate for a POP of orange and to add some "Hawaii" to my life

I had to get that green in. Love that green.

I am just loving the look of my Kitchen Island Redo. It makes such a statement! Don't get distracted my the kids playing on the floor.... hehe

Lets have some fun with before and afters:

BEFORE

AFTER

More:

BEFORE

AFTER

And 1 more:

BEFORE

AFTER

Kitchen Facts:

• We DIY 100%. From the painting to installing the plumbing. Nothing was hired out (only my husband's hard labor...)
• The Kitchen Renovation was UNDER $3000 for the whole thing. I know, amazing.
• The Cabinet Paint color was a color match of Behr's Powdered Snow in Sherwin Williams Oil Based.
• Wall Color: Sherwin Williams Quiver Tan
  
• Click HERE on the tutorial for my "No Fear" way to paint your kitchen cabinets
• Granite Mini Slabs were Gialla Santa Cecilia
• Crowley's Tile and Edging bullnosed our mini slabs and cut the undermount sink
• Pam and Brian with Interiors Plus Flooring were the heroes in making this happen, THANK YOU!
• And a BIG THANK YOU to my sweet husband for pulling through. It was worth it!

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Accessorizing around Your Kitchen Sink

First off- Happy Mother's Day! I have so much stuff to post but I never have time, so I had to wait until today to get one in (while hubby dresses the kids for church).

My corner kitchen sink and faucet are looking so beautiful after our remodel I had to redo all my accessories. I never was in love with my accessories before. A vase, a frame and some bottles of pasta was just something that could fill the space. Plus, I have quickly realized that when I hate the space I don't have much motivation to beautify it. But now I have more than motivation, I have inspiration!!!

I had been toying with some ideas for the blank space:

Some Candle Holders. These are from Pottery Barn.
I love this idea but wanted to use the candle holders for my family room on my buffet later.

I love these lanters. I was going to have 1 large lantern, a chunky candle and maybe a framed picture behind my sink. But for some reason I just didn't think this was the way to go (I want to use the lantern somewhere else! haha). PB again.

Adding a POP of color through these cheery flowers seems so fun. Especually by the sink while you do the most mundain job- dishes.

After all the ideas running through my head I headed to Michael's and in 15 minutes put together a perfect combination that works with my style, my budget, and my new kitchen.

I got 3 glass vases, all different sizes (the cheapest ones of course), and took them around the store with me and started filling them with things I loved (and things I could afford):

Green Apples. I LOVE green and I LOVE apples! Apples make me think of the kitchen and cooking and the bright green fills me with energy.

Willows and Marbles:

I had to sneak a pic of my cute daughter on Mother's Day :)

I took a $2 piece of Pussy Willow that my daughter is holding, and cut it up and placed them in the vase with Glass marbles on the bottom. The marbles remind me of water and the willows just, well, look cool and clean!

I had to add some dark rocks in there too. Rocks always remind me of a relaxing river. They are so Zen! Perfect next to the kitchen sink. Plus, I love the contrast of the dark rocks next to my green apples.

I love how it all turned out!
Ps. ignore the tile spacers in the background. The backsplash just needs to be grouted and we are DONE! YIPEEE!!!

The $10, 30 minute, Valance

 Because I am in love with the latest rage- Damask- I thought the perfect place to put the fabric print was over my kitchen sink.
I purchased the fabric from Warehouse Fabrics Inc. and went with Traditions Chocolate/Natural.  I purchased 2 yards (with free shipping) which came to just a tad over $10.

I followed Censational Girl's Valance Tutorial
 Great tutorial!  Easy and cheap as can be :) (again, no sewing needed. Just Stitch Witchery and a Staple Gun)

 I was making 2 valances in a corner window, it was a little more trickier.  I found that I needed to match my pattern or it would look wierd.  I layed my first cut valance right on top of the fabric to make my second cut so it would be exactly identical.

Before stapling my fabric to the wood pieces I layed them side by side to make sure they were perfectly matching.

Hubby hung them... he HATED this part.  He couldn't step on our new granite counters so he had to balance on the window sill.  Ya, he said he will never do that again (I hear that alot lately :) )

Here they are all hung and pretty. I love how they turned out!  You can't beat $10!!

Here is a sneak peak at the new backsplash that is going up!  I am so excited.  I opted against the tumbled travertine (I actually had bought it and had to return it the day before my husband was going to install it) and decided to go with this dark Porcelain tile, subway style.  It is really going to make a statement and add that contemporary flair to my kitchen.  Hopefully next week I can FINALLY show you all my finished kitchen!!! Crossed fingers!!!!!!!!!!!

The "I Can't Sew" Curtain Panel

The moment I stepped onto the Decor Blogger circuit I was introduced to this amazing "tape" that would open up possibilities to people like me: Non-Sewers. I never thought I would be able to make my own custom curtain panels. But now it is possible because of this:

Stitch Witchery is a bonding glue that you apply with the iron. Yes, all you need is an iron, a damp rag, this magic tape and your fabric!!!! I know, if you haven't heard of this before welcome to the land of fabric!

1. First, cut your fabric. I cut mine in a rectangle the dimensions of a curtain panel I woulda purchased (with a couple inches to spare for the magic tape!).

2. Place Stitch Witchery on your fabric, fold the edge on top.

3. Press your iron on a damp towel on top of your folded seem. Count to 10. Move on until you have done the whole thing. Done! (In short, follow the directions on the back of the package.)

Because I was doing curtains for my sliding door, which is really wide, I had to use 2 panels and seem them together. Again, I can't sew, so I used the "magic tape" to seem them together.

In all honesty, my seem didn't turn out the greatest. It was hard to iron 2 pieces of fabric together! But all my edges look amazing. You would never know a Custom Curtain Virgin (CCV, haha) made this:

The fabric was on Sale at Joannes! It is so pretty. I got way lucky because I had my 3 kids with me, I had a total of 10 minutes to run in the store, grab something and leave!

I was having HUGE issues getting the length right, it was just a bit long. Also, it looked so messy. Then I saw how Sarah clipped her curtains, tried it, and it made a WORLD of difference! Clip them from the back. Thanks Sarah!!!

I didn't use any lining. It seems to work great. I am cheap, I didn't want to buy anything more than I had to.

Now lets look at my before and after (you know I gotta do that!)
Before:

Yes, this was taken at Christmas time.... only pic I got!!!

After

I'd say it is a LOT better!! Now just need to accessorize :)

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